


I'm Happy At Home

by suspendedreality



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Domestic Fluff, Gwilym Is A Very Caring Partner, Her name is Rudy and she's wonderful, Joe Gets The Flu, Joe Has a Kid, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 02:06:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18459236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suspendedreality/pseuds/suspendedreality
Summary: There was something of a sense of wounded pride that came along with being this ill. A nagging little worm in his ear that Joe should be able to handle this all on his own. He should be a strong enough father that this shouldn’t phase him.Gwil wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulders. "I’d use up all of my sick days if that meant taking care of you and Rudy.” Joe felt him place a little kiss to the top of his head, in his no-doubt terribly sweaty andveryin need of a good wash hair. “I don’t think there’s any place that I’d rather be.”And there it is, Joe thought — the reminder why he didn’t have to do it by himself. There was no rhyme or reason to go about it alone.Or: It's terribly hard to take care of your five year old while dealing with the flu -- ask Joe, he knows. It's a terribly good thing that Gwil is care for them both.





	I'm Happy At Home

**Author's Note:**

> ok so Gwil and Joe have been dating for two years. They started dating when Rudy, Joe's daughter was 3.

It was the flu. Joe got it from Rudy, who had gotten it from her a girl in her classroom. They’d done the round of meds, nursed her while out of school, and the illness eventually took its course.

Joe, however, was next.

His head was stuffy, energy sapped — clearly that was the worst thing imaginable, when you’ve got a newly-energetic five year old running around the apartment. She was restless because she wasn’t allowed into Daddy’s bedroom, because he was very sick, with a fever practically running away with him.

That, and of course she insisted that  _ Gwil’m _ wasn’t as fun as Daddy. Gwil’m didn’t do the silly voices right when he read her books.  _ Gwil’m _ wouldn’t take her to the park — God forbid she care that it was practically torrential outside, the soggy streets were utterly standing in water.

_ (That’s what  _ **_raincoats_ ** _ are for! _ )

Gwil soothed Joe’s hair out of his forehead as the man heaved himself to sit up. He’d been sleeping on and off for most of the day, barely cognisant in the few minutes he was awake before he slipped back under again. He was awake for a while this time, he could feel it. He was so hot his skin prickled, and Gwilym helped him fight the comforter off his body.

“What do you say about a shower?” Gwil asked gently. “You might feel better.”

Joe just shook his head, not gathering up the energy to explain that hot water sounded like a recipe for disaster at the moment. Fainting in the shower was the worst thing that could happen at the moment. He muffled a sneeze into the crook of his arm, wincing at the jerk in his head the movement caused.

His head was absolutely  _ killing _ him, and it was not at all softly. It was loud and pounding, sharp and all-encompassing.

Gwil shifting the blankets back farther and settled on the bed next to him, running a hand up and down Joe’s back. Joe leaned into it, shuddering a sigh. It was the closest thing he’d had to quality human contact since Rudy had broken into this room at lunchtime the day before. She flung her little body into his lap, mouth running nonstop until Joe was able to detach her, and Gwil could gently prod her out of the room with the promise of watercolors after she actually finished her lunch.

“I’m sorry you’ve gotta deal with all this,” Joe croaked. His face was tucked into Gwil’s shoulder, a frown creased his forehead. “I hardly ever get sick.”

“So you’ve been saying for days, love,” Gwil teased, his voice soft. “You’ve got nothing to apologize for.”

“You had to take off work,” Joe pointed out. He drew back to look at Gwil, really trying to drive his point home. It was probably absolutely shattered by the tension lines around his eyes and the flush in his cheeks, but here’s to hopin’.

There was something of a sense of wounded pride that came along with being this ill. A nagging little worm in his ear that Joe should be able to handle this all on his own. He should be a strong enough father that this shouldn’t phase him.

“Only a day. Saturday and Sundays don’t count, as it turns out.”

“It it  _ Tuesday _ .”

Gwil wrapped an arm around his shoulders and rubbed his hand up and down Joe’s arm. “Sick day yesterday, and classes were all rained out today,” he explained. “One day. Even so, I’d use up all of my days if that meant taking care of you and Rudy.” Joe felt him place a little kiss to the top of his head, in his no-doubt terribly sweaty and in need of a good wash hair. “I don’t think there’s any place that I’d rather be.”

And there it is, Joe thought — the reminder why he didn’t have to do it by himself. That, since he had Gwilym, there was no rhyme or reason to go about it alone.

“You’re so good to us,” Joe grunted and tucked himself back into Gwil’s side. “I love you.” He could hear the smile in Gwil’s voice as he said the words back. Joe knew he meant it, he wouldn’t be here otherwise. Gwil’s love went far beyond flowery words. His actions were damn-well steeped in it, in how well he had helped care for Rudy when she was sick, how he was now single-handedly caring for Rudy  _ and _ Joe. He’d been sleeping on the living room couch, for God’s sake. Take great mind, that these were just this week’s past events.

Joe could make scrapbooks ( _ scrapbooks _ . With an  _ s _ .) about Gwil and his love with their little family.

—Cause that’s what they were. Sometime within the past two years, they’d become a family, him, Rudy and Gwil all together. Joe loved them fiercely, and it made his chest swell to know that Gwil felt very much the same way.

After a few minutes of sitting like that, Joe decided that it was time to get out of bed for the first time in what felt like days. His body felt heavy, and he felt vaguely like he would fall over, but Gwil trailed close behind him, like he was well in-tuned with the subtle sway of his body.

He’d been running hot, all cooped up in his bedroom, and the air in the apartment cool and soothing.

It was also quiet — almost suspiciously so, Joe thought. There was never a dull moment in his parental career, but that also translated to a near complete lack of  _ quiet _ ones as well.

A quiet Rudy was most often a shoulder-deep-in-the-middle-of-trouble Rudy.

The TV was on, but the volume on was low. Rudy’s favorite spot on the sofa was abandoned, her favorite stuffed animal laying abandoned in her wake.

“Uh oh,” he murmured, nodding Gwilym to the spot. The clink of a spoon against the kitchen counter richotteted against the walls, and Joe looked up to Gwil with wide eyes.

“We should check on that,” he said, his face scrunching up.

Joe didn’t exactly know what he was expecting when he walked into the kitchen, but he hadn’t barred anything out. This included the lower cabinets being pried open and metal bowls being strung out everywhere, or the ground littered with frozen blueberries as Rudy got it set in her mind to make a snack for herself. He wasn’t particularly surprised to see Rudy standing on the kitchen counter with a steadying hand on the refrigerator as she tried to open the wide cabinet door without knocking herself onto the floor.

“Now, what are you doing up there, little lady?” Gwil asked.

Rudy jumped, whipping her head to look at the men. Her hand stayed steady on the fridge, and Joe took a relieved breath. Rudy’s face brightened when she saw her father next to Gwilym. “Are you still sick, Daddy?” was the first thing out of her mouth.

“Yeah kiddo, a bit.”

She held her arms out to him so he could lift her up from the counter. He scooped her up into his arms, but could do little to replant her down to the floor when she wound her arms tight around his neck.

He barely had time to hug her back when she was whipping her upper body away from him, trying to reach out to the cabinet. “I want peanut butter,” she directed, “lots of peanut butter. I can’t reach.” She strained against him in such a way that Joe was reminded that this was the equivalent to sitting on someone’s feet as they dangle off a ledge in order to reach something.

“I’ll get it,” Gwil piped up, scooting past the pair. His hand trailed Joe’s back, and and he tucked a tuft of Rudy’s hair back behind her ear before going about his task. She smiled, looking very pleased with Gwilym at the moment as he fetched her the jar of Jif’s.

“Lots!” she demanded. “Gwil’m the yellow one.” She pointed firmly to the yellow-lidded jar of honey and peanut butter until Gwil retrieved it for her. Joe pressed a kiss to Rudy’s forehead before he let her wiggle her way down to the floor. She clamored up onto the footstool by the counter so she could watch Gwil scoop the peanut butter, poised and ready to claim what was hers when the time came.

“There you go, darling.”

Joe went to retrieve a sleeve of saltine crackers from the pantry before he settled down at the table. He nibbled on a cracker, hoping that he’d be able to keep it down. Gwilym slid him a glass of water, and he sipped it gratefully.

He wouldn’t be able to stay up too much longer — he could already feel his fragile energy being sapped away from him — but he savored this little moment. How Rudy practically beamed up at Gwil, and offered her a lick of her already mostly-demolished dollop of peanut butter, which Gwil oh, so generously declined. At least, until half his chin was accidentally smeared in the stuff.

Joe didn’t bother holding back his laugh at the scene. He smiled at them, feeling better than he had in days.

**Author's Note:**

> here's my [tumblr](https://mazlektov.tumblr.com/) come drop in, say hello!
> 
> drop me a comment, tell me what you think!


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